


Nothing Like a Train Ride To Think About The Past

by Spaceinmyhead



Series: In Regards To Souls [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Protective Ozpin, Trains, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28023966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaceinmyhead/pseuds/Spaceinmyhead
Summary: On the train ride to Mistral, Ozpin has lots of time to think about the past and the future
Relationships: Ozpin & Oscar Pine
Series: In Regards To Souls [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047118
Comments: 5
Kudos: 58





	Nothing Like a Train Ride To Think About The Past

There was no one else on the train platform when they finally arrived 2 hours later. However, that didn’t mean that Ozpin let his guard down. 

After Oscars breakdown earlier, he’d been almost hyper-aware of their surroundings. It had finally hit him that he was now in charge of keeping this child alive, and he wasn’t going to mess it up. 

“Are we on time?” Oscar whispered, rubbing at his arms. 

Ozpin glanced up at the clock sitting above a group of benches. “It appears we have 20 minutes to spare.” Oscar sighed in relief. 

“However, let’s get our ticket now. Wouldn’t want things to go wrong right at the last minute.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Oscar agreed as he pulled out his scroll. 

Yesterday, Ozpin guided him on downloading his previous train pass. Due to his status as a headmaster, he had an unlimited boarding pass, and to their luck, it was still valid. 

Oscar was quick to scan it and receive his ticket, letting out a sigh of relief. 

It was hard, seeing Oscar so stressed. The past month and a half had been full of hard training, but at least he knew that Oscar was safe the entire time. Now that they were out in the real world, he had no real way to make sure he was protected.

They just needed to get to Qrow as fast as possible. 

A loud bang rang out from the other side of the platform, causing Oscar to jump and Ozpin to pull out Long Memory. Even though he knew it couldn’t do anything, having it in his hand still felt right. 

A large man was standing by the second ticket booth, which now had a noticeable dent in it from where he could assume it had been hit. 

However, that wasn’t what caught Ozpin's attention. It was the man’s face that really caused him to take a second glance. 

Standing in front of him was Hazel Rainart, a man he hasn’t seen since his sister, Gretchen, funeral. 

“You alright over there kid?” Hazel asked as he started to walk over to Oscar.

Oscar looked up to Ozpin as he approached, and Ozpin just nodded. The man had been angry the last time they’d met, however, there was no way for him to know that Oscar had any relation to him. 

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. Just w-waiting for my train, haha…” He trailed off, clearly uncomfortable as he fidgeted with his gloves. 

“Stay safe then.” And with that, he’d walked off. 

Ozpin had a bad feeling about him, but there was no need to make Oscar worry, so he kept it to himself.

“He was interesting,” Oscar said as he watched the man walk away from the train station.

“Indeed. I actually knew him, when I was still alive that is.” Oscar looked over to him and lifted a brow. 

“Well, I wouldn’t say I knew him, it was more like I was aware of his presence. Only a few years ago now, his sister was killed while out on a mission with her team. It was something standard for Beacon students, however, this time something went wrong and she was killed. It was awful, and to this day I still regret not sending a teacher along with them. However, Hazel decided that I was the one that caused her death, and has hated me ever since.”

Oscar was quiet for a minute, his gaze looking down the track. “But, that’s not fair to you? No one can predict the future.”

Ozpin sighed. “While that is true, as the headmaster at the time it was my responsibility to keep every one of my students safe, no matter where they were on Remnant. Gretchen's death will always be partially my fault, no matter what actually was the cause of her death.”

Silence stretched between the two of them for a few minutes, and Ozpin was starting to worry that he’d said something wrong. 

“That makes sense, but that still doesn’t make his hatred of you right,” Oscar says, clutching a hand around his staff. 

“People don’t think right when their mind is clouded with grief,” He says as he sits down next to Oscar on the bench. “It’s just how the human mind works, even if it makes no sense.” 

The silence after that didn’t feel awkward like it did before, instead, it just felt normal. 

Ozpin glanced at the stick Oscar had taken with them. It made him feel a bit better that he had a weapon to fight with if they were to encounter any trouble, but he knew that he wouldn’t feel 100% better until Long Memory was back in their possession. 

All he could hope for was that Qrow actually did have it. Everything would be much harder if Glynda or James had it. However, he hoped that they had remembered what he had told them years ago. That if he were to die, Qrow was to be the one that kept his staff safe until his next reincarnation could find them. 

If they were to stand any chance against Salem, he needed to start teaching Oscar how to use their magic, and soon. 

However, that was a thought he would have to come back to another time. The train could be heard just around the corner, and Ozpin ushered Oscar to get up off the bench and prepare. 

“Are you sure you have everything you need? We won't be getting off this train until we reach Haven.” 

Oscar rolled his eyes in mild annoyance. “I have everything, I promise.”

“Good,” he replied, though he was sure the boy had forgotten at least one thing. That was no matter. The trip to Haven would only take a few days, and they would be able to get whatever he needed there. 

“This is really happening, huh?” Oscar whispered as he watched the train pull into the station with wide eyes. 

Ozpin put a hand on his shoulder. “It is, but life is just a series of chapters. You’re ending one and beginning another, so to speak. “

Oscar just nodded and pulled his backpack up farther on his back. 

The doors slid open and the two of them stepped in. The conductor pointed them towards the sleeper room that Ozpin had insisted they get. He knew how children were, and Oscar would be no exception. 

It was a fairly normal room, all things considered. There were a small bed and a couch, as well as a small set of a table and chairs that were placed right underneath the window. 

“This is pretty nice,” Oscar comments. 

Ozpin hums in agreement, walking over to the window to gaze outside. 

They wouldn’t start their journey for another few minutes, so that gave him time to scout out the train. Normally, he wouldn’t do this, but with Salem actively on the move, he didn’t want to make and risks. 

“Stay here and unpack. I’m going to take a look around the train.” Oscar gave him an okay as he took his backpack off and set it on the bed. 

Figuring the boy would want some time alone, he slipped through the closed door and into the hall. 

There were rooms on both sides of the halls, some of which he noted were labeled as “occupied”.

He had enough presence to not stick his head into them, so he continued on his journey through the train. 

Each car only held a few people at max, even though it seemed they could hold at least a hundred. He figured they would get more full as they got closer to the major cities. 

As for the people he did see, he immediately took note of them. None of them were familiar, but that didn’t mean he could let his guard down. 

At the front of the train, there was a dining car, which appeared to serve proper meals instead of just snacks. That was good, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about Oscar eating on their way to Haven.

With most of the train searched he made his way back to the room, slipping back inside in the same way he had left. 

“I found a dining car, so if you get hungry-” There was a yelp and a groan as Oscar smacked his head on the top of the bed. 

Ozpin looked at him concerned. “Are you alright Oscar? That sounded like it hurt.”

“I’m fine, you just startled me is all,” Oscar responded with a wince as he rubbed his forehead. 

“Ah, I apologize. I would knock, but I can’t quite do that.” 

Oscar gave him a little grin, “heh, yeah.”

They lapsed into silence again after that, Ozpin sitting at the table and watching as the scenery started to go by faster and fast, and Oscar rifling through his backpack. 

Eventually, as they appeared to reach their maximum speed, there was a knock on the door. 

The door opened to the conductor who had let them on, his hand outstretched. “Ticket please.”

“Ah sure,” Oscar mumbled as he pulled the now crumpled up ticket out of his pocket. 

The conductor gave it a look over and then hole-punched it before handing it back to Oscar. 

“Have a good trip kid,” he said as he closed the door behind him and walked off. 

“Thanks,” Oscar called out to his back, before shaking his head and pulling the chair out across from Ozpin, sitting down in it.

“Sometimes I forget that other people can’t see you. Like, I almost said that it wasn’t just me here before I caught myself.”

Ozpin chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me. I used to do the same with my predecessor, except he was just a voice in my head. It took time for me to learn how to converse with him inside my head. So for a bit, it would just look like I was talking to myself. I got plenty of weird looks for a time.”

“Wow,” Oscar laughed. “So wait, is this the first time something like this has happened?” He asked.

“It is. Usually, our soul would move to the unconscious mind of our next reincarnation, and we would communicate as a voice in that person’s head. I never actually knew what my previous incarnation looked like, and neither did the one before him.” 

“I can only imagine,” Oscar says as he turns his head to look out the window. 

The outside world is passing by so fast now that it’s impossible to pick out any individual thing, instead, it all just looks like a blur of greens, browns, and greys. 

Eventually, Oscar pulls out a book and begins to read, leaving Ozpin to his own thoughts. Which was always a dangerous thing. 

He has no clue what the future is going to hold. At least in previous reincarnations that had interactions with Salem, there were always tells about what she was going to do next. However those things were always small, nothing like what was going on now. 

This was the first big move she’d taken since he and she were forced into immortality, and he could only pretend he knew what to do for so long. 

Eventually, he would have to tell everyone everything he knew, even if that might change their view of him. 

Yes, she had been his wife, but that was centuries and centuries ago. Now, she was just a villian in his story that he was tasked to defeat. But he knew that his colleagues would understand that. 

What he knew they wouldn’t understand, was the fact that she was immortal like him. There was no way to kill her. When he had figured that out he was _devastated_. It had seemed like the gods had given him an impossible task.

But over the incarnations, he had looked away from killing her and had instead looked for a way to try and contain her. He still hadn’t found that way, but he was sure with the people he had on his side they would be able to find _something_.

He had hope for the future, and even though he was jaded from his many years of living, he would never let that hope die. 

And looking at Oscar, who was carefully reading his book, he had a feeling that this time would be the time. 

When he had started to train Oscar, he had noticed something peculiar. Unlike all of Ozma’s previous incarnations, he didn’t seem to have the limit on his magic that the rest of them had. 

When they had given their daughters, the Maidens, their powers, their own magic had been drained and hadn’t replenished no matter how long they waited. 

But Oscar didn’t seem to have that problem. 

Even though he wasn’t inside of his subconscious, he could still feel Oscar's soul, though it had taken some practice to find it through their link.

And when he finally found it, he was proven correct. Oscar had all of the magic that had previously been there before the Maidens, and then some. 

It was incredible to see, and it made Ozpin not only hopeful but _proud_ of the boy. He had so much potential to learn and grow, and the kindness in his heart knew no limits. 

He was truly the best out of them, and Ozpin would do everything in his power to make sure this boy, who was far too young to be going off to war, would come out the other side alive.

When they finally start to train in magic, he would tell Oscar of his potential, but for now, he deserved some time before that stress was put on his shoulders. 

The world was about to have a very drastic change, and even though he knew things could go wrong and everything could be for naught, Oscar gave him the hope that this would be the end of the long tale that is his life. 

And not only Oscar. Team RWBY and JNPR gave him the hope he didn’t have before. 

Life was going to change, but they would come out of it alive.

They _had_ too.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, had a blast writing this! Hope you liked reading it too! 
> 
> Follow me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/spaceinmyhead13)!


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